CD review: Chris Knight 'Little Victories'

“Hard edges hide the tender heart/silent as a midnight prayer/hard edges hide the sweetest part/'til you never know it's there” Chris Knight croons on “Hard Edges,” a mournful, banjo-inflected ode to shattered dreams featured on his new album, “Little Victories.”

The chorus could just as easily apply to the acclaimed alt-country singer-songwriter's stark, gritty storytelling style. His first album of new material in four years, “Little Victories” has plenty of hard edges, but Knight isn't engaging in the kind of macho posturing that dominates the country charts these days. Rather, his eighth album relates vivid, almost cinematic tales of tough folks dealing with tough times.

While rural anthems are trendy on mainstream country radio these days, Knight's “Little Victories” accomplishes an authenticity that no slickly produced tribute to cane pole fishing and sweet tea sipping could ever achieve. His unflinching small-town stories are about coping with the socio-economic woes of his hometown of Slaughters, Ky., population 200.

When Knight, 52, growlingly recommends growing a garden patch, getting a shotgun and preparing to “shoot somethin' and drag it home” because “I'm pretty sure that the government ain't gonna save you” on the album opener “In the Mean Time,” you never doubt it he is singing with the voice of experience. His blue collar doesn't seem put on as much as bred into him on the title track, a harmonica-tinged story-song about being content with bologna, Little Debbies and Mountain Dew that features his musical hero John Prine on supporting vocals.

Knight will play a full-band show Nov. 1 at Tulsa's Mercury Lounge. For more information, go to www.mercurylounge918.com.

MORE FROM NEWSOK

by Brandy McDonnell

Entertainment Reporter

Brandy McDonnell, also known by her initials BAM, writes stories and reviews on movies, music, the arts and other aspects of entertainment. She is NewsOK’s top blogger: Her 4-year-old entertainment news blog, BAM’s Blog, has notched more than 1...